[reverse darkest timeline au: you stay here]

[stilljustandrew]

The thing about a road trip is: you need roads.

No one's been maintaining this particular stretch of highway for years, which means there are places where they have to maneuver slowly around pitted and cracked surfaces, around fallen trees, around the abandoned wreckage of less fortunate cars. One such heap looks a little too deliberate, according to Kali, and they go back to detour wide around that one for fear of ambush.

There's an enclave somewhere around here, she says, calls itself Nowhere Special. Human, which doesn't mean friendly; there's every chance the ambush was theirs. Or of some enemy camp looking to take over their territory.

It's late afternoon, somewhere between misty and drizzly, when they pull up to the long-abandoned gas station.

Comments

[nita_callahan]

As the engine dies, Nita stretches and lets out a groan.

"Thank goodness. I need to stretch my legs." She glances at Kali. "What do you think the odds are there's still gas here?"

[forewarned_is]

"Not good," Kali says, "but not nothing, so it's worth a look. Mostly we need the rest, though."

The we is probably courtesy, but ... she does look weary.

[semicharmed]

Matt's legs are stuck out from the driver's side, though he hasn't emerged just yet. He's fiddling with something on the dashboard.

"Rest is good," he agrees, muffled. He pokes his head out. "And uh, either at least one of us can stay with the car, or I'll have to take the charm off it? Otherwise we risk not being able to find it again."

An invisible jet scenario? Hilarious. But not so much in unfamiliar and hostile territory.

[nita_callahan]

"Has anyone ever told you your charms are over-powered?" Nita asks as she clambers out of the car. Her back pops as she stretches again, and she winces. "I can stay with the car if you guys want to take a look around."

[forewarned_is]

Kali nods to her. "I want to get a feel for what's around us here, and a little distance will help with that. Not much. Matt, can you look at the gas while I'm at it?"

[semicharmed]

"--Uh, yes." Matt stands up, patting down his pockets--though even if he runs into any trouble, he thinks his shield spell ought to be enough. "Happy to."

Over the top of the car, he shoots Nita a slightly wounded look. "I just wanted to do my best."


(This may also explain why there're so many varieties of road trip snack in the back seat.)

[nita_callahan]

Nita snorts, shaking her head, and leans against the hood of the car as Matt heads off to investigate.

"Teacher's pet," she mutters.

It has not, exactly, been a pleasant time on the road. The long drives are tiring in and of themselves, but the creeping sense of danger is what really wears on you. If there weren't so much green nature reasserting itself over the bones of civilization, it would remind Nita of that other Manhattan. So finding chances for a little levity has felt all the more important.

[forewarned_is]

There's been no sign, along the road so far, of the artifact they're hunting. But moving at that speed, in a man-made conveyance on a man-made road, Kali can't say there's no chance she might have missed it.

So, and so: she moves away from the car, lets it dwindle behind her along with the other passengers, closes her eyes.

Steps, with one abruptly bare foot, onto the damp roadside grass. Spreads out all four arms to the air.

And stretches, breathing, listening.

[semicharmed]

Where does one find gas at a gas station?


Like, Matt assumes the pumps are the first thing to be depleted. (Though he does try one on the far side: dry.) That means the convenience store, probably? It's dim as a cave, but his shield spell lights it a little.

"Hello ...?"

Some shelves inside are knocked over. Nothing much useful seems to remain. Not that you'd keep gas on the shelves out front, right?

"Wherrre do you store gas in a gas station."

[nita_callahan]

Nita . . . feels slightly superfluous sitting around at the car, truth be told. Not to mention it's chilly out here.

Maybe that's what causes the prickle on the back of her neck, like someone's watching her. Or maybe it's just whatever Kali is up to, near the edge of her line of sight.

[forewarned_is]

A faint ripple of wind stirs the grass around Kali's feet.




Her eyes slam open.

Before the bent grass has time to straighten up, she's moving for the station's little convenience store where Matt is; not running, but moving.

A little bell over the door jangles wildly as she pushes it open. "Back to the car," she says sharply. "Something's coming."

[semicharmed]

Matt has, by this time, made his way back to a little corner office. The lights don't work, but his shield spell offers enough glow to go by.

There's a thick layer of dust on everything back here, including the papers that lie scattered across the desk. Whoever left them did it in a hurry.

Jamison peers.

Most of the papers seem to be inventory. There are a few post-its that say things like CALL FRED ABOUT FRIDGE and CHECK FUEL TANKS.

Fuel tanks.

Matt fumbles for the page beneath the note; holding it close to his shield, he can make out the top line: MONTHLY UNDERGROUND STORAGE SYSTEM INSPECTION CHECKLIST.

Undergr--



That's when he hears, or at least perceives, Kali.

"Huh?" An amber energy shuffles quickly into the main room, still holding the sheet. "What kind of something?"

[forewarned_is]

"I'll tell you both at the car. Move."

She doesn't wait to see if he's moving, just turns to hurry back toward the car herself.

(Strictly speaking she can't see it, but she knows where it is.)

[nita_callahan]

Nita can hear the commotion of Kali's passage and the sound of her and Matt's voices. She stands up from the hood of the car, keeping one hand on it.

"Guys?" she calls.

That prickling, nervy feeling is getting stronger.

[semicharmed]

Jamison quickens his pace to follow Kali outside.

The combined force of his and Kali's attention, focused unerringly on the car's location, should be enough to break the charm--but he'd rather not take chances.

(Somewhere just past the edge of his hearing, he thinks he perceives Nita's voice.)


"Hey Nita? I need you to take the charm off the dash and step out of the car a sec."

[nita_callahan]

Hastily, Nita gets to the driver's side, grabs the charm off the dashboard, and steps back.

Hey, there's the car! Though now Nita's imperceptible.

[forewarned_is]

Without pausing, almost without breaking stride, Kali opens the front passenger door and slides in, half-twisting to face the other seats.

There's a ... sense, something like a pulse, something like a stench, at the distant edge of her perception. Coming closer. Slowly.

(Not as slowly as she'd prefer.)

[semicharmed]

Matt hurtles into the driver's seat, plucking the keys from his pocket and feeling superstitiously relieved when the engine roars.

A quick glance to the back seat: to see what's behind them, and to ascertain that Nita's made it inside.

"Direction?"

[nita_callahan]

Nita pulls the back door shut, wincing a little at the slam.

"What's going on? Is there someone out there?"

[forewarned_is]

"There's a large group of the infected heading this way," says Kali, flatly. "They may be after the enclave up the road, but they'll pass right by us if they keep their present course. We can run, but if we do, we'll have to double back afterward to keep up the search."

Her gaze flicks between the two of them. "Or I can draw them off, and meet you back here."

[semicharmed]

Matt looks her way.

"It's your call," he says. "You know the territory."

[forewarned_is]

"Then I'll draw them off," she says at once, "and the two of you stay here and lay low. We can't hunt while we're running."

Another glance: any questions?

[nita_callahan]

"Hang on, wait -- are you sure you'll be okay?"

She may be a goddess, but when the Powers take physical form, They can still be harmed.

[forewarned_is]

The question gets a faintly crooked smile. "I don't plan to engage them directly. And if they turn out to be more troublesome than I expect, I can get away more quickly on my own."

She pauses. "If any get past me, the charm should keep you hidden -- but if you have the slightest worry that it isn't holding, take off. Drive and keep driving. If that happens, or if six hours go by and I haven't returned here ..."

One hand comes up, and plucks a hair from her head, and holds it out to Matt. "Burn this and speak my name, and I'll find you."

[semicharmed]

Gently, carefully, Matt takes the hair.

"You got it," he says.

And, tucking it into his front pocket, adds with a small smile, "I'll be praying for you."